Preservation system for nutritional substances

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is preservation system for nutritional substances. The preservation system obtains information about the nutritional substance to be preserved, senses and measures the external environment to the preservation system, senses and measures the internal environment to the preservation system, senses and measures the state of the nutritional substance, and stores such information throughout the period of preservation. Using this accumulated information, the preservation system can measure, or estimate, changes in nutritional content (usually degradation) during the period of preservation. Additionally, the preservation system can use this information to dynamically modify the preservation system to minimize detrimental changes to the nutritional content of the nutritional substance, and in some cases actually improve the nutritional substance attributes.

RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/612,947, filed Mar. 19, 2012. This application also claims thebenefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/729,548, filed Dec. 28,2012, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/485,854, filed May 31, 2012, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/624,948 filed Apr. 16, 2012;U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/624,972, filed Apr. 16,2012; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application, 61/624,985, filed Apr.16, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present inventions relate to creation, collection, transmission, anduse of information regarding the preservation of nutritional substances.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nutritional substances are traditionally grown (plants), raised(animals) or synthesized (synthetic compounds). Additionally,nutritional substances can be found in a wild, non-cultivated form,which can be caught or collected. While the collectors and creators ofnutritional substances generally obtain and/or generate informationabout the source, history, caloric content and/or nutritional content oftheir products, they generally do not pass such information along to theusers of their products. One reason is the nutritional substanceindustries have tended to act like “silo” industries. Each group in thefood and beverage industry: growers, packagers, processors,distributors, retailers, and preparers work separately, and eithershares no information, or very little information, between themselves.There is generally no consumer access to, and little traceability of,information regarding the creation and/or origin, preservation,processing, preparation, or consumption of nutritional substances. Itwould be desirable for such information be available to the consumers ofnutritional substances, as well as all participants in the food andbeverage industry—the nutritional substance supply system.

While the nutritional substance supply system has endeavored over thelast 50 years to increase the caloric content of nutritional substancesproduced (which has helped reduce starvation in developing countries,but has led to obesity and other problems in developed countries),maintaining, or increasing, the nutritional content of nutritionalsubstances has been a lower priority and is done in a synthetic manner.Caloric content refers to the energy in nutritional substances, commonlymeasured in calories. The caloric content could be represented as sugarsand/or carbohydrates in the nutritional substances. The nutritionalcontent, also referred to herein as nutritional value, of foods andbeverages, as used herein, refers to the non-caloric content of thesenutritional substances which are beneficial to the organisms whichconsume these nutritional substances. For example, the nutritionalcontent of a nutritional substance could include vitamins, minerals,proteins, and other non-caloric components which are necessary, or atleast beneficial, to the organism consuming the nutritional substances.

While there has recently been greater attention by consumerorganizations, health organizations and the public to the nutritionalcontent of foods and beverages, the food and beverage industry has beenslow in responding to this attention. One reason for this may be thatsince the food and beverage industry operates as silos of those whocreate nutritional substances, those who preserve and transportnutritional substances, those who transform nutritional substances, andthose who finally prepare the nutritional substances for consumption bythe consumer, there has been no system wide coordination or managementof nutritional content, and no practical way for creators, preservers,transformers, and conditioners to update labeling content fornutritional substances. While each of these silo industries may be ableto maintain or increase the nutritional content of the foods andbeverages they handle, each silo industry has only limited informationand control of the nutritional substances they receive, and thenutritional substances they pass along.

As consumers better understand their need for nutritional substanceswith higher nutritional content, they will start demanding that the foodand beverage industry offer products which include higher nutritionalcontent, and/or at least information regarding nutritional content ofsuch products, as well as information regarding the source, creation andother origin information for the nutritional substance. In fact,consumers are already willing to pay higher prices for highernutritional content. This can be seen at high-end grocery stores whichoffer organic, minimally processed, fresh, non-adulterated nutritionalsubstances. Further, as societies and governments seek to improve theirconstituents' health and lower healthcare costs, incentives and/ormandates will be given to the food and beverage industry to track,maintain, and/or increase the nutritional content of nutritionalsubstances they handle. There will be a need, not only within each foodand beverage industry silo to maintain or improve the nutritionalcontent of their products, but an industry-wide solution to allow themanagement of nutritional content across the entire cycle from creationto consumption. In order to manage the nutritional content ofnutritional substances across the entire cycle from creation toconsumption, the nutritional substance industry will need to identify,track, measure, estimate, preserve, transform, condition, and recordnutritional content for nutritional substances. Of particular importanceis the measurement, estimation, and tracking of changes to thenutritional content of a nutritional substance from creation toconsumption. This information could be used, not only by the consumer inselecting particular nutritional substances to consume, but could beused by the other food and beverage industry silos, including creation,preservation, transformation, and conditioning, to make decisions on howto create, handle and process nutritional substances. Additionally,those who sell nutritional substances to consumers, such as restaurantsand grocery stores, could communicate perceived qualitative values ofthe nutritional substance in their efforts to market and position theirnutritional substance products. Further, a determinant of price of thenutritional substance could be particular nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values, and if changes to those values are perceived asdesirable. For example, if a desirable value has been maintained,improved, or minimally degraded, it could be marketed as a premiumproduct. Still further, a system allowing creators, preservers,transformers, and conditioners of nutritional substances to updatelabeling content to reflect the most current information about thenutritional substance would provide consumers with the information theyneed to make informed decisions regarding the nutritional substancesthey purchase and consume. Such information updates could includenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritionalsubstance, and may further include information regarding the source,creation and other origin information for the nutritional substance.

For example, the grower of sweet corn generally only provides basicinformation as the variety and grade of its corn to the packager, whopreserves and ships the corn to a producer for use in a ready-to-eatdinner. The packager may only tell the producer that the corn has beenfrozen as loose kernels of sweet corn. The producer may only provide theconsumer with rudimentary instructions how to cook or reheat theready-to-eat dinner in a microwave oven, toaster oven or conventionaloven, and only tell the consumer that the dinner contains whole kernelcorn among the various items in the dinner. Finally, the consumer of thedinner will likely keep her opinions on the quality of the dinner toherself, unless it was an especially bad experience, where she mightcontact the producer's customer support program to complain. Veryminimal, or no, information on the nutritional content of theready-to-eat dinner is passed along to the consumer. The consumer knowsessentially nothing about changes (generally a degradation, but could bea maintenance or even an improvement) to the nutritional content of thesweet corn from creation, processing, packaging, cooking, preservation,preparation by consumer, and finally consumption by the consumer. Theconsumer is even more unlikely to be aware of possible changes tolabeling content that a creator, preserver, transformer, or conditionermay just have become be aware of, such as changes in information aboutnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the nutritionalsubstance or changes in information regarding the source, creation andother origin information about the nutritional substance. Ifcommunicated, such changes to labeling content could affect a purchasingpreference or consumption preference of a consumer. Further, ifcommunicated, such changes to labeling content could affect the health,safety, and wellbeing of the consumer. It is also clear that suchchanges would best be communicated rapidly and by a means readilyutilized by a consumer.

Consumers' needs are changing as consumers are demanding healthierfoods, such as “organic foods.” Consumers are also asking for moreinformation about the nutritional substances they consume, such asspecific characteristics' relating not only to nutritional content, butto allergens or digestive intolerances. For example, nutritionalsubstances which contain lactose, gluten, nuts, dyes, etc. need to beavoided by certain consumers. However, the producer of the ready-to-eatdinner, in the prior example, has very little information to share otherthan possibly the source of the elements of the ready-to-eat dinner andits processing steps in preparing the dinner. Generally, the producer ofthe ready-to-eat dinner does not know the nutritional content andorganoleptic state and aesthetic condition of the product after it hasbeen reheated or cooked by the consumer, cannot predict changes to theseproperties, and cannot inform a consumer of this information to enablethe consumer to better meet their needs. For example, the consumer maywant to know what proportion of desired organoleptic properties orvalues, desired nutritional content or values, or desired aestheticproperties or values of the corn in the ready-to-eat dinner remain aftercooking or reheating, and the change in the desired nutritional contentor values, the desired organoleptic properties or values, or the desiredaesthetic properties or values (usually a degradation, but could be amaintenance or even improvement). There is a need to preserve, measure,estimate, store and/or transmit information regarding such nutritional,organoleptic, and aesthetic values, including changes to these values,throughout the nutritional substance supply system. Given theopportunity and a system capable of receiving and processing real timeconsumer feedback and updates regarding changes in the nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritional substances,consumers can even play a role in updating dynamic information about thenutritional substances they have purchased and/or prepared forconsumption, such that that information is available and useful toothers in the nutritional substance supply system.

The caloric and nutritional content information for a prepared food thatis provided to the consumer is often minimal. For example, when sugar islisted in the ingredient list, the consumer generally does receive anyinformation about the source of the sugar, which can come from a varietyof plants, such as sugarcane, beets, or corn, which will affect itsnutritional content. Conversely, some nutritional information that isprovided to consumers is so detailed, the consumer can do little withit. For example, this of ingredients is from a nutritional label on aconsumer product: Vitamins—A 355 IU 7%, E 0.8 mg 4%, K 0.5 mcg, 1%,Thiamin 0.6 mg 43%, Riboflavin 0.3 mg 20%, Niacin 6.0 mg 30%, B6 1.0 mg52%, Foliate 31.5 mcg 8%, Pantothenic 7%; Minerals Calcium 11.6 1%, Iron4.5 mg 25%, Phosphorus 349 mg 35%, Potassium 476 mg 14%, Sodium 58.1 mg2%, Zinc 3.7 mg 24%, Copper 0.5 mg 26%, Manganese 0.8 mg 40%, Selenium25.7 mcg 37%; Carbohydrate 123 g, Dietary fiber 12.1 g, Saturated fat7.9 g, Monosaturated Fat 2.1 g, Polysaturated Fat 3.6 g, Omega 3 fattyacids 108 g, Omega 6 fatty acids 3481, Ash 2.0 g and Water 17.2 g.(%=Daily Value). There is a need to provide information aboutnutritional substances in a meaningful manner. Such information needs tobe presented in a manner that meets the specific needs of a particularconsumer. For example, consumers with a medical condition, such asdiabetes, would want to track specific information regarding nutritionalvalues associated with sugar and other nutrients in the foods andbeverages they consume, and would benefit further from knowing changesin these values or having tools to quickly indicate or estimate thesechanges in a retrospective, current, or prospective fashion, and eventools to report these changes, or impressions of these changes, in areal-time fashion.

In fact, each silo in the food and beverage industry already creates andtracks some information, including caloric and nutritional information,about their product internally. For example, the famer who grew the cornknows the variety of the seed, condition of the soil, the source of thewater, the fertilizers and pesticides used, and can measure the caloricand nutritional content at creation. The packager of the corn knows whenit was picked, how it was transported to the packaging plant, how thecorn was preserved and packaged before being sent to the ready-to-eatdinner producer, when it was delivered to the producer, and whatdegradation to caloric and nutritional content has occurred. Theproducer knows the source of each element of the ready-to-eat dinner,how it was processed, including the recipe followed, and how it waspreserved and packaged for the consumer. Not only does such a producerknow what degradation to caloric and nutritional content occurred, theproducer can modify its processing and post-processing preservation tominimally affect nutritional content. The preparation of the nutritionalsubstance for consumption can also degrade the nutritional content ofnutritional substances. Finally, the consumer knows how she prepared thedinner, what condiments were added, and whether she did or did not enjoyit.

If there was a mechanism to share this information, the quality of thenutritional substances, including caloric and nutritional, organoleptic,and aesthetic value, could be preserved and improved. Consumers could bebetter informed about nutritional substances they select and consume,including the state, and changes in the state, of the nutritionalsubstance throughout its lifecycle from creation to consumption. Theefficiency and cost effectiveness of nutritional substances could alsobe improved. Feedback within the entire chain from creator to consumercould provide a closed-loop system that could improve quality (taste,appearance, and caloric and nutritional content), efficiency, value andprofit. For example, in the milk supply chain, at least 10% of the milkproduced is wasted due to safety margins included in product expirationdates. The use of more accurate tracking information, measured quality(including nutritional content) information, and historicalenvironmental information could substantially reduce such waste.Collecting, preserving, measuring and/or tracking information about anutritional substance in the nutritional substance supply system, wouldallow needed accountability. There would be nothing to hide.

As consumers are demanding more information about what they consume,they are asking for products that have higher and better nutritionalcontent and more closely match good nutritional requirements, and wouldlike nutritional products to actually meet their specific nutritionalrequirements. While grocery stores, restaurants, and all those whoprocess and sell food and beverages may obtain some information fromcurrent nutritional substance tracking systems, such as labels, thesecurrent systems can provide only limited information.

Current packaging materials for nutritional substances include plastics,paper, cardboard, glass, and synthetic materials. Generally, thepackaging material is chosen by the producer to best preserve thequality of the nutritional substance until used by the customer. In somecases, the packaging may include some information regarding type ofnutritional substance, identity of the producer, and the country oforigin. Such packaging generally does not transmit source information ofthe nutritional substance, such as creation information, current orhistoric information as to the external conditions of the packagednutritional substance, or current or historic information as to theinternal conditions of the packaged nutritional substance.

An important issue in the creation, preservation, transformation,conditioning, and consumption of nutritional substances are the changesthat occur in nutritional substances due to a variety of internal andexternal factors. Because nutritional substances are composed ofbiological, organic, and/or chemical compounds, they are generallysubject to degradation. This degradation generally reduces thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of nutritionalsubstances. While not always true, nutritional substances are bestconsumed at their point of creation. However, being able to consumenutritional substances at the farm, at the slaughterhouse, at thefishery, or at the food processing plant is at least inconvenient, ifnot impossible. Currently, the food and beverage industry attempts tominimize the loss of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value(often through the use of additives or preservatives and often throughfreezing the nutritional substance), and/or attempts to hide this lossof nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value from consumers.

Overall, the examples herein of some prior or related systems and theirassociated limitations are intended to be illustrative and notexclusive. Other limitations of existing or prior systems will becomeapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading the followingDetailed Description.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to minimize and/or trackdegradation of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value ofnutritional substances, and/or collect, store, and/or transmitinformation regarding this degradation.

It is an object of the present invention to minimize and/or trackdegradation of nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value ofnutritional substances, and/or collect, store, transmit, and/or makeinformation regarding this degradation available to consumers and othersin the nutritional substance supply system.

It is an object of the present invention that the packaging for anutritional substance directly or indirectly allows for the preservationand tracking of source information, information as to the history of thenutritional substance from the point it was packaged and/or currentinformation on outside or external influences on the packagednutritional substance, including the target storage conditions and theinfluence on the nutritional substance of expected and unexpectedvariations from the target storage conditions.

It is an object of the present invention that the packaging for anutritional substance directly or indirectly allows for sourceinformation, information as to the history of the nutritional substancefrom the point it was packaged and/or current information on outside orexternal influences on the packaged nutritional substance, including thetarget storage conditions and the influence on the nutritional substanceof expected and unexpected variations from the target storageconditions, to be available to users and/or consumers of the nutritionalsubstance, or to any member of the nutritional substance supply system.

It is an object of the present invention that the packaging for thenutritional substance can directly or indirectly provide information tothe consumer, or to others in the nutritional substance supply system,as to the current state of the nutritional substance in terms of changesin a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value, or in terms of acurrent nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value.

It is an object of the present invention that the packaging of thenutritional substance can interact with the nutritional substance tomaintain and/or minimize degradation of and/or improve a nutritional,organoleptic or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance duringpreservation, or in some way optimize any one or combination of anutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic value of the nutritionalsubstance.

It is an object of the present invention that the packaging or labelingof a nutritional substance directly or indirectly preserves and trackscreation and historical information of the nutritional substance as wellas current information about a nutritional, organoleptic or aestheticstate of the nutritional substance or changes to a nutritional,organoleptic or aesthetic state of the nutritional substance.

It is an object of the present invention that the packaging for thenutritional substance includes any form of encoded information, such asinformation contained on a tag or label, which can directly orindirectly preserve, track, and provide information to the consumer orothers within the nutritional substance supply system as to thenutritional substance's source information and/or historicalpreservation information, including external influences on thenutritional substance, and/or changes in a nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance or information regardingthe current state of a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value ofthe nutritional substance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for thecreation, collection, storage, transmission, and/or processing ofinformation regarding a nutritional substance so as to improve,maintain, or minimize degradation of a nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance. Additionally, the presentinvention provides such information for use by the creators, preservers,transformers, conditioners, and consumers of nutritional substances.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment of the present invention, degradation of a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of nutritional substances is minimizedand/or tracked, and information regarding this degradation is collected,stored, and/or transmitted.

In an embodiment of the present invention, degradation of a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of nutritional substances is minimizedand/or tracked, and information regarding this degradation is providedto consumers and others in the nutritional substance supply system.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the packaging for anutritional substance directly or indirectly allows for the preservationand tracking of source information, information as to the history of thenutritional substance from the point it was packaged and/or currentinformation on outside or external influences on the packagednutritional substance, including the target storage conditions and theinfluence on the nutritional substance of expected and unexpectedvariations from the target storage conditions.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the packaging for anutritional substance directly or indirectly allows for sourceinformation, information as to the history of the nutritional substancefrom the point it was packaged and/or current information on outside orexternal influences on the packaged nutritional substance, including thetarget storage conditions and the influence on the nutritional substanceof expected and unexpected variations from the target storageconditions, to be available to users and/or consumers of the nutritionalsubstance, or to any member of the nutritional substance supply system.

In another embodiment of the present invention the packaging for thenutritional substance can directly or indirectly provide information tothe consumer, or to others in the nutritional substance supply system,as to the current state of the nutritional substance in terms of changesin a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value, or in terms of acurrent nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the packaging of thenutritional substance can interact with the nutritional substance tomaintain and/or minimize degradation and/or improve a nutritional,organoleptic or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance duringpreservation, or in some way to optimize any one or combination of anutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic value of the nutritionalsubstance.

In an embodiment of the present invention the packaging or labeling of anutritional substance directly or indirectly preserves and trackscreation and historical information of the nutritional substance as wellas current information about a nutritional, organoleptic or aestheticstate of the nutritional substance or changes to a nutritional,organoleptic or aesthetic state of the nutritional substance.

In another embodiment of the present invention the packaging for thenutritional substance includes any form of encoded information, such asinformation contained on a tag or label, which can directly orindirectly preserve, track, and provide information to the consumer orothers within the nutritional substance supply system as to thenutritional substance's source information and/or historicalpreservation information, including external influences on thenutritional substance, and/or changes in a nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance or information regardingthe current state of a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value ofthe nutritional substance.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a system for thecreation, collection, storage, transmission, and/or processing ofinformation regarding a nutritional substance so as to improve,maintain, or minimize degradation of a nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance. Additionally, the presentinvention provides such information for use by the creators, preservers,transformers, conditioners, and consumers of nutritional substance.

Other advantages and features will become apparent from the followingdescription and claims. It should be understood that the description andspecific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, exemplify the embodiments of the presentinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain andillustrate principles of the invention. The drawings are intended toillustrate major features of the exemplary embodiments in a diagrammaticmanner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of actualembodiments nor relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and arenot drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic functional block diagram of a nutritionalsubstance supply system relating to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a graph representing a value of a nutritional substancewhich changes according to a change of condition for the nutritionalsubstance;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 13 shows a schematic functional block diagram of the preservationmodule 300 according to an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 shows a flow chart of steps that a nutritional substance may gothrough on its journey through the nutritional substance supply system.

In the drawings, the same reference numbers and any acronyms identifyelements or acts with the same or similar structure or functionality forease of understanding and convenience. To easily identify the discussionof any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digitsin a reference number refer to the Figure number in which that elementis first introduced.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various examples of the invention will now be described. The followingdescription provides specific details for a thorough understanding andenabling description of these examples. One skilled in the relevant artwill understand, however, that the invention may be practiced withoutmany of these details. Likewise, one skilled in the relevant art willalso understand that the invention can include many other obviousfeatures not described in detail herein. Additionally, some well-knownstructures or functions may not be shown or described in detail below,so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description.

The terminology used below is to be interpreted in its broadestreasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with adetailed description of certain specific examples of the invention.Indeed, certain terms may even be emphasized below; however, anyterminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will beovertly and specifically defined as such in this Detailed Descriptionsection.

The following discussion provides a brief, general description of arepresentative environment in which the invention can be implemented.Although not required, aspects of the invention may be described belowin the general context of computer-executable instructions, such asroutines executed by a general-purpose data processing device (e.g., aserver computer or a personal computer). Those skilled in the relevantart will appreciate that the invention can be practiced with othercommunications, data processing, or computer system configurations,including: wireless devices, Internet appliances, hand-held devices(including personal digital assistants (PDAs)), wearable computers, allmanner of cellular or mobile phones, multi-processor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, set-topboxes, network PCs, mini-computers, mainframe computers, and the like.Indeed, the terms “controller,” “computer,” “server,” and the like areused interchangeably herein, and may refer to any of the above devicesand systems.

While aspects of the invention, such as certain functions, are describedas being performed exclusively on a single device, the invention canalso be practiced in distributed environments where functions or modulesare shared among disparate processing devices. The disparate processingdevices are linked through a communications network, such as a LocalArea Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or the Internet. In adistributed computing environment, program modules may be located inboth local and remote memory storage devices.

Aspects of the invention may be stored or distributed on tangiblecomputer-readable media, including magnetically or optically readablecomputer discs, hard-wired or preprogrammed chips (e.g., EEPROMsemiconductor chips), nanotechnology memory, biological memory, or otherdata storage media. Alternatively, computer implemented instructions,data structures, screen displays, and other data related to theinvention may be distributed over the Internet or over other networks(including wireless networks), on a propagated signal on a propagationmedium (e.g., an electromagnetic wave(s), a sound wave, etc.) over aperiod of time. In some implementations, the data may be provided on anyanalog or digital network (packet switched, circuit switched, or otherscheme).

In some instances, the interconnection between modules is the internet,allowing the modules (with, for example, WiFi capability) to access webcontent offered through various web servers. The network may be any typeof cellular, IP-based or converged telecommunications network, includingbut not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDM), General PacketRadio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), AdvancedMobile Phone System (AMPS), Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess (WiMAX), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Unlicensed MobileAccess (UMA), etc.

The modules in the systems can be understood to be integrated in someinstances and in particular embodiments, only particular modules may beinterconnected.

FIG. 1 shows the components of a nutritional substance industry 10. Itshould be understood that this could be the food and beverage ecosystemfor human consumption, but could also be the feed industry for animalconsumption, such as the pet food industry. A goal of the presentinvention for nutritional substance industry 10 is to create, preserve,transform and trace the change in nutritional, organoleptic and/oraesthetic values of nutritional substances, collectively andindividually also referred to herein as ΔN, through their creation,preservation, transformation, conditioning and consumption. While thenutritional substance industry 10 can be composed of many companies orbusinesses, it can also be integrated into combinations of businessserving many roles, or can be one business or even individual. Since ΔNis a measure of the change in a value of a nutritional substance,knowledge of a prior value (or state) of a nutritional substance and theΔN value will provide knowledge of the changed value (or state) of anutritional substance, and can further provide the ability to estimate achange in value (or state).

Module 200 is the creation module. This can be a system, organization,or individual which creates and/or originates nutritional substances.Examples of this module include a farm which grows produce; a ranchwhich raises beef; an aquaculture farm for growing shrimp; a factorythat synthesizes nutritional compounds; a collector of wild truffles; ora deep sea crab trawler.

Preservation module 300 is a preservation system for preserving andprotecting the nutritional substances created by creation module 200.Once the nutritional substance has been created, generally, it will needto be packaged in some manner for its transition to other modules in thenutritional substances industry 10. While preservation module 300 isshown in a particular position in the nutritional substance industry 10,following the creation module 200, it should be understood that thepreservation module 300 actually can be placed anywhere nutritionalsubstances need to be preserved during their transition from creation toconsumption.

Transformation module 400 is a nutritional substance processing system,such as a manufacturer who processes raw materials such as grains intobreakfast cereals. Transformation module 400 could also be aready-to-eat dinner manufacturer who receives the components, oringredients, also referred to herein as component nutritionalsubstances, for a ready-to-eat dinner from preservation module 300 andprepares them into a frozen dinner. While transformation module 400 isdepicted as one module, it will be understood that nutritionalsubstances may be transformed by a number of transformation modules 400on their path to consumption.

Conditioning module 500 is a consumer preparation system for preparingthe nutritional substance immediately before consumption by theconsumer. Conditioning module 500 can be a microwave oven, a blender, atoaster, a convection oven, a cook, etc. It can also be systems used bycommercial establishments to prepare nutritional substance for consumerssuch as a restaurant, an espresso maker, pizza oven, and other deviceslocated at businesses which provide nutritional substances to consumers.Such nutritional substances could be for consumption at the business orfor the consumer to take out from the business. Conditioning module 500can also be a combination of any of these devices used to preparenutritional substances for consumption by consumers.

Consumer module 600 collects information from the living entity whichconsumes the nutritional substance which has passed through the variousmodules from creation to consumption. The consumer can be a human being,but could also be an animal, such as pets, zoo animals and livestock,which are they themselves nutritional substances for other consumptionchains. Consumers could also be plant life which consumes nutritionalsubstances to grow.

Information module 100 receives and transmits information regarding anutritional substance between each of the modules in the nutritionalsubstance industry 10 including, the creation module 200, thepreservation module 300, the transformation module 400, the conditioningmodule 500, and the consumer module 600. The nutritional substanceinformation module 100 can be an interconnecting informationtransmission system which allows the transmission of information betweenvarious modules. Information module 100 contains a database, alsoreferred to herein as a dynamic nutritional value database, where theinformation regarding the nutritional substance resides. Informationmodule 100 can be connected to the other modules by a variety ofcommunication systems, such as paper, computer networks, the internetand telecommunication systems, such as wireless telecommunicationsystems. In a system capable of receiving and processing real timeconsumer feedback and updates regarding changes in the nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritional substances, or ΔN,consumers can even play a role in updating a dynamic nutritional valuedatabase with observed or measured information about the nutritionalsubstances they have purchased and/or prepared for consumption, so thatthe information is available and useful to others in the nutritionalsubstance supply system, such as through reports reflecting the consumerinput or through modification of ΔN.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the function of how a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substance varies overthe change in a condition of the nutritional substance. Plotted on thevertical axis of this graph can be either the nutritional value,organoleptic value, or even the aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance. Plotted on the horizontal axis can be the change in conditionof the nutritional substance over a variable such as time, temperature,location, and/or exposure to environmental conditions. This exposure toenvironmental conditions can include: exposure to air, including the airpressure and partial pressures of oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, orozone; airborne chemicals, pollutants, allergens, dust, smoke,carcinogens, radioactive isotopes, or combustion byproducts; exposure tomoisture; exposure to energy such as mechanical impact, mechanicalvibration, irradiation, heat, or sunlight; or exposure to materials suchas packaging. The function plotted as nutritional substance A could showa ΔN for milk, such as the degradation of a nutritional value of milkover time. Any point on this curve can be compared to another point tomeasure and/or describe the change in nutritional value, or the ΔN ofnutritional substance A. The plot of the degradation in the samenutritional value of nutritional substance B, also milk, describes thechange in nutritional value, or the ΔN of nutritional substance B, anutritional substance which starts out with a higher nutritional valuethan nutritional substance A, but degrades over time more quickly thannutritional substance A.

In this example, where nutritional substance A and nutritional substanceB are milk, this ΔN information regarding the nutritional substancedegradation profile of each milk could be used by the consumer in theselection and/or consumption of the milk. If the consumer has thisinformation at time zero when selecting a milk product for purchase, theconsumer could consider when the consumer plans to consume the milk,whether that is on one occasion or multiple occasions. For example, ifthe consumer planned to consume the milk prior to the point when thecurve represented by nutritional substance B crosses the curverepresented by nutritional substance A, then the consumer should choosethe milk represented by nutritional substance B because it has a highernutritional value until it crosses the curve represented by nutritionalsubstance A. However, if the consumer expects to consume at least someof the milk at a point in time after the time when the curve representedby nutritional substance B crosses the curve represented by nutritionalsubstance A, then the consumer might choose to select the milkrepresented by the nutritional substance A, even though milk representedby nutritional substance A has a lower nutritional value than the milkrepresented by nutritional substance B at an earlier time. This changeto a desired nutritional value in a nutritional substance over a changein a condition of the nutritional substance described in FIG. 2 can bemeasured and/or controlled throughout nutritional substance supplysystem 10 in FIG. 1. This example demonstrates how dynamically generatedinformation regarding a ΔN of a nutritional substance, in this case achange in nutritional value of milk, can be used to understand a rate atwhich that nutritional value changes or degrades; when that nutritionalvalue expires; and a residual nutritional value of the nutritionalsubstance over a change in a condition of the nutritional substance, inthis example a change in time. This ΔN information could further be usedto determine a best consumption date for nutritional substance A and B,which could be different from each other depending upon the dynamicallygenerated information generated for each.

In FIG. 1, Creation module 200 can dynamically encode nutritionalsubstances to enable the tracking of changes in nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance, orΔN. This dynamic encoding, also referred to herein as a dynamicinformation identifier, can replace and/or complement existingnutritional substance marking systems such as barcodes, labels, and/orink markings. This dynamic encoding, or dynamic information identifier,can be used to make nutritional substance information from creationmodule 200 available to information module 100 for use by preservationmodule 300, transformation module 400, conditioning module 500, and/orconsumption module 600, which includes the ultimate consumer of thenutritional substance. One method of marking the nutritional substancewith a dynamic information identifier by creation module 200, or anyother module in nutritional supply system 10, could include anelectronic tagging system, such as the tagging system manufactured byKovio of San Jose, Calif., USA. Such thin film chips can be used notonly for tracking nutritional substances, but can include components tomeasure attributes of nutritional substances, and record and transmitsuch information. Such information may be readable by a reader includinga satellite-based system. Such a satellite-based nutritional substanceinformation tracking system could comprise a network of satellites withcoverage of some or all the surface of the earth, so as to allow thedynamic nutritional value database of information module 100 real time,or near real time updates about a ΔN of a particular nutritionalsubstance.

Preservation module 300 includes packers and shippers of nutritionalsubstances. The tracking of changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values, or a ΔN, during the preservation period withinpreservation module 300 allows for dynamic expiration dates fornutritional substances. For example, expiration dates for dairy productsare currently based generally only on time using assumptions regardingminimal conditions at which dairy products are maintained. Thisextrapolated expiration date is based on a worst-case scenario for whenthe product becomes unsafe to consume during the preservation period. Inreality, the degradation of dairy products may be significantly lessthan this worst-case. If preservation module 300 could measure or derivethe actual degradation information such as ΔN, an actual expirationdate, referred to herein as a dynamic expiration date, can be determineddynamically, and could be significantly later in time than anextrapolated expiration date. This would allow the nutritional substancesupply system to dispose of fewer products due to expiration dates. Thisability to dynamically generate expiration dates for nutritionalsubstances is of particular significance when nutritional substancescontain few or no preservatives. Such products are highly valuedthroughout nutritional substance supply system 10, including consumerswho are willing to pay a premium for nutritional substances with few orno preservatives.

It should be noted that a dynamic expiration date need not be indicatednumerically (i.e., as a numerical date) but could be indicatedsymbolically as by the use of colors—such as green, yellow and redemployed on semaphores—or other designations. In those instances, thedynamic expiration date would not be interpreted literally but, rather,as a dynamically-determined advisory date. In practice a dynamicexpiration date will be provided for at least one component of a singleor multi-component nutritional substance. For multi-componentnutritional substances, the dynamic expiration date could be interpretedas a “best” date for consumption for particular components.

By law, in many localities, food processors such as those intransformation module 400 are required to provide nutritional substanceinformation regarding their products. Often, this information takes theform of a nutritional table applied to the packaging of the nutritionalsubstance. Currently, the information in this nutritional table is basedon averages or minimums for their typical product. Using the nutritionalsubstance information from information module 100 provided by creationmodule 200, preservation module 300, and/or information from thetransformation of the nutritional substance by transformation module400, the food processor could include a dynamically generatednutritional value table, also referred to herein as a dynamicnutritional value table, for the actual nutritional substance beingsupplied. The information in such a dynamic nutritional value tablecould be used by conditioning module 500 in the preparation of thenutritional substance, and/or used by consumption module 600, so as toallow the ultimate consumer the ability to select the most desirablenutritional substance which meets their needs, and/or to trackinformation regarding nutritional substances consumed.

Information about changes in nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues of nutritional substances, or ΔN, is particularly useful in theconditioning module 500 of the present invention, as it allows knowing,or estimating, the pre-conditioning state of the nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of the nutritional substance, andallows for estimation of a ΔN associated with proposed conditioningparameters. The conditioning module 500 can therefore createconditioning parameters, such as by modifying existing or baselineconditioning parameters, to deliver desired nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic values after conditioning. The pre-conditioning stateof the nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of anutritional substance is not tracked or provided to the consumer byexisting conditioners, nor is the ΔN expected from a proposedconditioning tracked or provided to the consumer either before or afterconditioning. However, using information provided by information module100 from creation module 200, preservation module 300, transformationmodule 400, and/or information measured or generated by conditioningmodule 500, conditioning module 500 could provide the consumer with theactual, and/or estimated change in nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values of the nutritional substance, or ΔN. Further, consumerfeedback and updates regarding observed or measured changes in thenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of nutritionalsubstances, or ΔN, can play a role in updating a dynamic nutritionalvalue database with information about the nutritional substancesconsumers have purchased and/or prepared for consumption, so that theinformation is available and useful to others in the nutritionalsubstance supply system, such as through reports reflecting the consumerinput or through modification of ΔN. Such information regarding thechange to nutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic value of thenutritional substance, or ΔN, could be provided not only to theconsumer, but could also be provided to information module 100 for useby creation module 200, preservation module 300, transformation module400, so as to track, and possibly improve nutritional substancesthroughout the entire nutritional substance supply system 10.

The information regarding nutritional substances provided by informationmodule 100 to consumption module 600 can replace or complement existinginformation sources such as recipe books, food databases likewww.epicurious.com, and Epicurious apps. Through the use of specificinformation regarding a nutritional substance from information module100, consumers can use consumption module 600 to select nutritionalsubstances according to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues. This will further allow consumers to make informed decisionsregarding nutritional substance additives, preservatives, geneticmodifications, origins, traceability, and other nutritional substanceattributes that may also be tracked through the information module 100.This information can be provided by consumption module 600 throughpersonal computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, and/orsmartphones. Software running on these devices can include dedicatedcomputer programs, modules within general programs, and/or smartphoneapps. An example of such a smartphone app regarding nutritionalsubstances is the iOS ShopNoGMO from the Institute for ResponsibleTechnology. This iPhone app allows consumers access to informationregarding non-genetically modified organisms they may select.Additionally, consumption module 600 may provide information for theconsumer to operate conditioning module 500 in such a manner as tooptimize nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values of anutritional substance and/or component nutritional substances thereof,according to the consumer's needs or preference or according to targetvalues established by the provider of the nutritional substance, such asthe transformer, and/or minimize degradation of, preserve, or improvenutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance and/or component nutritional substances thereof.

Through the use of nutritional substance information available frominformation module 100 nutritional substance supply system 10 can tracknutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value. Using thisinformation, nutritional substances travelling through nutritionalsubstance supply system 10 can be dynamically valued and pricedaccording to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values. Forexample, nutritional substances with longer dynamic expiration dates(longer shelf life) may be more highly valued than nutritionalsubstances with shorter expiration dates. Additionally, nutritionalsubstances with higher nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalues may be more highly valued, not just by the consumer, but also byeach entity within nutritional substance supply system 10. This isbecause each entity will want to start with a nutritional substance withhigher nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value before itperforms its function and passes the nutritional substance along to thenext entity. Therefore, both the starting nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic value and the ΔN associated with those values areimportant factors in determining or estimating an actual, or residual,nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value of a nutritionalsubstance, and accordingly are important factors in establishingdynamically valued and priced nutritional substances.

During the period of implementation of the present inventions, therewill be nutritional substances being marketed including those benefitingfrom the tracking of dynamic nutritional information such as ΔN, alsoreferred to herein as information-enabled nutritional substances, andnutritional substances which do not benefit from the tracking of dynamicnutritional information such as ΔN, which are not information enabledand are referred to herein as dumb nutritional substances.Information-enabled nutritional substances would be available in virtualinternet marketplaces, as well as traditional marketplaces. Because ofinformation provided by information-enabled nutritional substances,entities within the nutritional substance supply system 10, includingconsumers, would be able to review and select information-enablednutritional substances for purchase. It should be expected that,initially, the information-enabled nutritional substances would enjoy ahigher market value and price than dumb nutritional substances. However,as information-enabled nutritional substances become more the norm, thecost savings from less waste due to degradation of information-enablednutritional substances could lead to their price actually becoming lessthan dumb nutritional substances.

For example, the producer of a ready-to-eat dinner would prefer to usecorn of a high nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value in theproduction of its product, the ready-to-eat dinner, so as to produce apremium product of high nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aestheticvalue. Depending upon the levels of the nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic values, the ready-to-eat dinner producer may be able tocharge a premium price and/or differentiate its product from that ofother producers. When selecting the corn to be used in the ready-to-eatdinner, the producer will seek corn of high nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic value from preservation module 300 that meets itsrequirements for nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value. Thepackager/shipper of preservation module 300 would also be able to chargea premium for corn which has high nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values. And finally, the packager/shipper of preservationmodule 300 will select corn of high nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value from the grower of creation module 200, who will also beable to charge a premium for corn of high nutritional, organoleptic,and/or aesthetic values.

The change to nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value for anutritional substance, or ΔN, tracked through nutritional substancesupply system 10 through nutritional substance information frominformation module 100 can be preferably determined from measuredinformation. However, some or all such nutritional substance ΔNinformation may be derived through measurements of environmentalconditions of the nutritional substance as it travelled throughnutritional substance supply system 10. Additionally, some or all of thenutritional substance ΔN information can be derived from ΔN data ofother nutritional substances which have travelled through nutritionalsubstance supply system 10. Nutritional substance ΔN information canalso be derived from laboratory experiments performed on othernutritional substances, which may approximate conditions and/orprocesses to which the actual nutritional substance has been exposed.Further, consumer feedback and updates regarding observed or measuredchanges in the nutritional, organoleptic, and/or aesthetic value ofnutritional substances can play a role in updating ΔN information.

For example, laboratory experiments can be performed on bananas todetermine effect on or change in nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic value, or ΔN, for a variety of environmental conditionsbananas may be exposed to during packaging and shipment in preservationmodule 300. Using this experimental data, tables and/or algorithms couldbe developed which would predict the level of change of nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values, or ΔN, for a particular bananabased upon information collected regarding the environmental conditionsto which the banana was exposed during its time in preservation module300. While the ultimate goal for nutritional substance supply system 10would be the actual measurement of nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values to determine ΔN, use of derived nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values from experimental data todetermine ΔN would allow improved logistics planning because it providesthe ability to prospectively estimate changes to nutritional,organoleptic, and/or aesthetic values, or ΔN, and because it allows moreaccurate tracking of changes to nutritional, organoleptic, and/oraesthetic values, or ΔN, while technology and systems are put in placeto allow actual measurement.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the preservation module of the presentinvention. Preservation module 300 includes a container 310 whichcontains nutritional substance 320. Also included in container 310 isinformation storage module 330 which can be connected to an externalreader 340. In this embodiment, information storage module 330 containsinformation regarding the nutritional substance 320. This informationcan include creation or origin information from the creation of thenutritional substance 320 and/or prior preservation or transformationinformation. Information in the information storage module 330 mightadditionally include identification information, such as a dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance, which isassociated with source and origin information or information regardingprior transformation or prior storage or prior transport of thenutritional substance 320 and other historic information preserved ininformation module 100. A shipper, or user, of container 310 canoperatively connect to information storage module 330 using reader 340to retrieve information stored therein. Information module 100 canconnect to reader 340 to retrieve and preserve information stored ininformation storage module 330 and can further associate thatinformation with the dynamic information identifier provided on thenutritional substance. Alternatively, reader 340 can transmitinformation stored in information storage module 330 to informationmodule 100 and can further associate the transmitted information withthe dynamic information identifier provided on the nutritionalsubstance. A consumer or other member of the nutritional substancesupply system would then be able to retrieve from information system 100the information that was stored in information module 330 by using thedynamic information identifier associated with the nutritional substanceand provided on the nutritional substance.

In an alternate embodiment reader 340 can also write to informationstorage module 330. In this embodiment, information regarding thecontainer and/or nutritional substance 320 can be modified or added toinformation storage module 330 by the user or shipper.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of preservation module 300 whereincontainer 310 contains nutritional substance 320 as well as controller350. Controller 350 is connected to external sensor 360 located eitherinside, on the surface of, or external to container 310 such thatexternal sensor 360 can obtain information regarding the environmentexternal to container 310. Controller 350 and exterior sensor 360 cantake the form of electronic components such as a micro-controller and anelectronic sensor. However, the controller-sensor combination may alsobe chemical or organic materials which perform the same function, suchas a liquid crystal sensor/display.

When the shipper or user of container 310 desires information fromexternal sensor 360 the shipper or user can use reader 340 to query thecontroller 350 as to the state of external sensor 360. In the electroniccomponent embodiment, reader 340 could be a user interface device suchas a computer which can be electronically connected to controller 350.If the controller-sensor combination is a liquid crystal sensor/display,the ready could be a human looking at the display.

Information in the controller 350 can include creation or origininformation from the creation of the nutritional substance 320 and/orprior preservation or transformation information. Information in thecontroller 350 might additionally include identification information,such as a dynamic information identifier provided on the nutritionalsubstance, which is associated with source and origin information orinformation regarding prior transformation or prior storage or priortransport of the nutritional substance 320 and other historicinformation preserved in information module 100. A shipper, or user, ofcontainer 310 can operatively connect to controller 350 using reader 340to retrieve information stored therein, such as the identificationinformation and information from external sensor 360. Information module100 can connect to controller 350 directly, or using reader 340, toretrieve and preserve information stored therein, such as theidentification information and information from external sensor 360, andcan further associate that information with the dynamic informationidentifier provided on the nutritional substance. Alternatively,controller 350 or reader 340 can transmit information stored incontroller 350 and collected by controller 350 from external sensor 360to information module 100 and can further associate the transmittedinformation with the dynamic information identifier provided on thenutritional substance. A consumer or other member of the nutritionalsubstance supply system would then be able to retrieve from informationsystem 100 the information that was stored and collected by controller350 by using the dynamic information identifier associated with thenutritional substance and provided on the nutritional substance.

In one embodiment, reader 340 can be directly connected to externalsensor 360 to obtain the information from external sensor 360 withoutneed of a controller 350. In another embodiment, external sensor 360provides information to controller 350 which is presented as a visualdisplay to the shipper or user. Finally, external sensor 360 couldprovide information directly to the user or shipper by visual means suchas a temperature sensitive liquid crystal thermometer.

In an additional embodiment, controller 350 can modify the operation ofcontainer 310 so as to modify the preservation capabilities of container310. For example, if the exterior environment of container 310 wouldadversely affect the nutritional substance 320, container 310 couldadjust the internal environment of container 310 to better preserve thenutritional substance. If nutritional substance needs to be kept withina certain temperature range to preserve its nutritional, organoleptic oraesthetic values or properties, and the external sensor 360 providesexterior temperature information to controller 350, controller 350 couldmodify container 310 so as to maintain nutritional substance 320 withinthe required temperature range.

In FIG. 5, preservation module 300 includes container 310 which containsnutritional substance 320, controller 350, and information storagemodule 330. External sensor 360 is positioned such that it can provideinformation on the exterior environment to container 310. Informationfrom the external sensor and information storage module can be retrievedby connecting reader 340 to container 310.

In this embodiment, information regarding the external environmentsensed by external sensor 360 and provided to controller 350 can bestored in information storage module 330. This storage of externalenvironment can be used to record a history of the external environmentcontainer 310 has been subjected to. This would allow the shipper oruser of container 310 to understand the external environment thecontainer has been subjected to during the time it has preserved thenutritional substance. Such information can be used to determine if thenutritional substance is no longer safe for consumption or has beendegraded such that the nutritional substance is no longer in an optimalstate. Additionally, the user of the nutritional substance could modifyits transformation, conditioning, or consumption according to anychanges that may have occurred because of the external conditions of thecontainer.

Information in the information storage module 330 can include creationor origin information from the creation of the nutritional substance 320and/or prior preservation or transformation information. Information ininformation storage module 330 might additionally include identificationinformation, such as a dynamic information identifier provided on thenutritional substance, which is associated with source and origininformation or information regarding prior transformation or priorstorage or prior transport of the nutritional substance 320 and otherhistoric information preserved in information module 100. A shipper, oruser, of container 310 can operatively connect to information storagemodule 330 through controller 350 using reader 340 to retrieveinformation stored in storage module 330. Information module 100 canoperatively connect to information storage module 330 through controller350, or using reader 340, to retrieve and preserve information stored instorage module 330, and can further associate that information with thedynamic information identifier provided on the nutritional substance.Alternatively, controller 350 or reader 340 can transmit informationstored in information storage module 330 to information module 100 andcan further associate the transmitted information with the dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance. A consumeror other member of the nutritional substance supply system would then beable to retrieve from information system 100 the information that wasstored in controller 350 by using the dynamic information identifierassociated with the nutritional substance and provided on thenutritional substance.

In an additional embodiment, controller 350 can modify the operation ofcontainer 310 so as modify the preservation capabilities of container310. For example, if the exterior environment of container 310 wouldadversely affect the nutritional substance 320, container 310 couldadjust the internal environment of container 310 to better preserve thenutritional substance. Controller 350 can analyze the historicinformation from external sensor 360, stored in information storagemodule 330 to determine any long-term exterior conditions environmentalIf nutritional substance needs to be kept within a certain temperaturerange to preserve its nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values orproperties, and the external sensor 360 provides exterior temperatureinformation to controller 350, controller 350 could modify container 310so as to maintain nutritional substance 320 within the requiredtemperature range.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of preservation module 300 wherein container310 contains nutritional substance 320 as well as internal sensor 370located either inside, or on the surface of, container 310, such thatinternal sensor 370 can obtain information regarding the environmentinternal to container 310. Internal sensor 370 can be connected toreader 340 to obtain the interior conditions of container 310. Internalsensor 370 and reader 340 can take the form of electronic componentssuch as an electronic sensor and electronic display. However, thereader-sensor combination may also be chemical or organic materialswhich perform the same function, such as a liquid crystalsensor/display.

In addition to information regarding the environment internal tocontainer 310, information in the internal sensor 370 can includecreation or origin information from the creation of the nutritionalsubstance 320 and/or prior preservation or transformation information.Information in the internal sensor 370 might additionally includeidentification information, such as a dynamic information identifierprovided on the nutritional substance, which is associated with sourceand origin information or information regarding prior transformation orprior storage or prior transport of the nutritional substance 320 andother historic information preserved in information module 100. Ashipper, or user, of container 310 can operatively connect to internalsensor 370 using reader 340 to retrieve information stored or collectedtherein. Information module 100 can connect to internal sensor 370directly, or using reader 340, to retrieve and preserve informationstored or collected therein, and can further associate that informationwith the dynamic information identifier provided on the nutritionalsubstance. Alternatively, internal sensor 370 or reader 340 can transmitinformation stored in or collected by internal sensor 370 to informationmodule 100 and can further associate the transmitted information withthe dynamic information identifier provided on the nutritionalsubstance. A consumer or other member of the nutritional substancesupply system would then be able to retrieve from information system 100the information that was stored in or collected by internal sensor 370by using the dynamic information identifier associated with thenutritional substance and provided on the nutritional substance.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of preservation module 300 wherein container310 contains nutritional substance 320 as well as controller 350.Controller 350 is connected to internal sensor 370 located eitherinside, or on the surface of, container 310, such that internal sensor370 can obtain information regarding the environment internal tocontainer 310. Controller 350 and internal sensor 370 can take the formof electronic components such as a micro-controller and an electronicsensor. However, the controller-sensor combination may also be chemicalor organic materials which perform the same function, such as a liquidcrystal sensor/display.

When the shipper or user of container 310 desires information frominternal sensor 370 the shipper or user can use reader 340 to queryinternal sensor 370 through controller 350. In the electronic componentembodiment, reader 340 could be a user interface device such as acomputer which can be electronically connected to internal sensor 370through controller 350.

In addition to information regarding the environment internal tocontainer 310, information in the controller 350 can include creation ororigin information from the creation of the nutritional substance 320and/or prior preservation or transformation information. Information inthe controller 350 might additionally include identificationinformation, such as a dynamic information identifier provided on thenutritional substance, which is associated with source and origininformation or information regarding prior transformation or priorstorage or prior transport of the nutritional substance 320 and otherhistoric information preserved in information module 100. A shipper, oruser, of container 310 can operatively connect to controller 350 usingreader 340 to retrieve information stored therein, such as theidentification information and information from internal sensor 370.Information module 100 can connect to controller 350 directly, or usingreader 340, to retrieve and preserve information stored therein, such asthe identification information and information from internal sensor 370,and can further associate that information with the dynamic informationidentifier provided on the nutritional substance. Alternatively,controller 350 or reader 340 can transmit information stored in orcollected by controller 350 to information module 100 and can furtherassociate the transmitted information with the dynamic informationidentifier provided on the nutritional substance A consumer or othermember of the nutritional substance supply system would then be able toretrieve from information module 100 the information that was stored incontroller 350 by using the dynamic information identifier associatedwith the nutritional substance and provided on the nutritionalsubstance.

In an additional embodiment, controller 350 can modify the operation ofcontainer 310 so as modify the preservation capabilities of container310. For example, if the interior environment of container 310 wouldadversely affect the nutritional substance 320, container 310 couldadjust the internal environment of container 310 to better preserve thenutritional substance. If nutritional substance needs to be kept withina certain temperature range to preserve its nutritional, organoleptic oraesthetic values or properties, and the internal sensor 370 providesinternal temperature information to controller 350, controller 350 couldmodify container 310 so as to maintain nutritional substance 320 withinthe required temperature range.

In FIG. 8, preservation module 300 includes container 310 which containsnutritional substance 320, controller 350, and information storagemodule 330. Internal sensor 370 is positioned such that it can provideinformation on the internal environment to container 310. Informationfrom the internal sensor and information storage module can be retrievedby connecting reader 340 to container 310.

In this embodiment, information regarding the internal environmentsensed by internal sensor 370 and provided to controller 350 can bestored in information storage module 330. In addition to informationregarding the environment internal to container 310, information in theinformation storage module 330 can include creation or origininformation from the creation of the nutritional substance 320 and/orprior preservation or transformation information and other historicinformation regarding the nutritional substance 320. Information in theinformation storage module 330 might additionally include identificationinformation, such as a dynamic information identifier provided on thenutritional substance, which is associated with source and origininformation or information regarding prior transformation or priorstorage or prior transport of the nutritional substance 320 and otherhistoric information preserved in information module 100. A shipper, oruser, of container 310 can operatively connect to information storagemodule 330 using reader 340 to retrieve information stored ininformation storage module 330. Information module 100 can connect tocontroller 350 directly, or using reader 340, to retrieve and preserveinformation stored in information storage module 330, and can furtherassociate that information with the dynamic information identifierprovided on the nutritional substance. Alternatively, controller 350 orreader 340 can transmit information stored in information storage module330 to information module 100 and can further associate the transmittedinformation with the dynamic information identifier provided on thenutritional substance. A consumer or other member of the nutritionalsubstance supply system would then be able to retrieve from informationmodule 100 the information that was stored in information storage module330 by using the dynamic information identifier associated with thenutritional substance and provided on the nutritional substance. Thisstorage of internal environment information can be used to record ahistory that the internal environment of container 310 has beensubjected to. This would allow the shipper or user of container 310 tounderstand the internal environment the container has been subjected toduring the time it has preserved the nutritional substance. Suchinformation can be used to determine if the nutritional substance is nolonger safe for consumption or has been degraded such that thenutritional substance is no longer in an optimal state. Additionally,the user of the nutritional substance could modify its transformation,conditioning, or consumption according to any changes that may haveoccurred because of the internal conditions of the container.

In an additional embodiment, controller 350 can modify the operation ofcontainer 310 so as modify the preservation capabilities of container310. For example, if the internal environment of container 310 wouldadversely affect the nutritional substance 320, container 310 couldadjust the internal environment of container 310 to better preserve thenutritional substance. Controller 350 can analyze the historicinformation from internal sensor 370, stored in information storagemodule 330 to determine any long-term internal environmental conditions.If nutritional substance needs to be kept within a certain temperaturerange to preserve its nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values orproperties, and the internal sensor 370 provides internal temperatureinformation to controller 350, controller 350 could modify container 310so as to maintain nutritional substance 320 within the requiredtemperature range.

In an alternate embodiment reader 340 can also write to informationstorage module 330. In this embodiment, information regarding thecontainer and/or nutritional substance 320 can be modified or added toinformation storage module 330 by the user or shipper.

FIG. 9 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention.Preservation module 300 includes container 310 which containsnutritional substance 320, nutritional substance label 325, controller350, and information storage module 330. Internal sensor 370 ispositioned such that it can provide information on the internalenvironment to container 310. Information from the internal sensor andinformation storage module can be retrieved by connecting reader 340 tocontainer 310. Nutritional substance label 325 is attached tonutritional substance 320 so as to sense, measure, and/or indicate thecurrent state of nutritional substance 320. Nutritional substance label325 can be read by reader 340. Nutritional substance label 325 could bea material/chemical tag that, through a physical reaction with thesurface of nutritional substance 320, provides information regarding thenutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values or properties or state ofthe nutritional substance, including where nutritional substance 320 isin its life cycle. As an example, this label/tag can change color as afruit, cheese or wine matures across time. It could also indicate if itdetects traces of pesticides, hormones, allergens, harmful or dangerousbacteria, or any other substances.

In this embodiment, information regarding the internal environmentsensed by internal sensor 370 and provided to controller 350 can bestored in information storage module 330. In addition to informationregarding the environment internal to container 310, information in theinformation storage module 330 can include creation or origininformation from the creation of the nutritional substance 320 and/orprior preservation or transformation information and other historicinformation regarding the nutritional substance 320. Information in theinformation storage module 330 might additionally include identificationinformation, such as a dynamic information identifier provided on thenutritional substance, which is associated with source and origininformation or information regarding prior transformation or priorstorage or prior transport of the nutritional substance 320 and otherhistoric information preserved in information module 100. The dynamicinformation identifier might be incorporated onto nutritional substancelabel 325 or could be independent of nutritional substance label 325. Ashipper, or user, of container 310 can operatively connect toinformation storage module 330 using reader 340 to retrieve informationstored in information storage module 330. Information module 100 canconnect to controller 350 directly, or using reader 340, to retrieve andpreserve information stored in information storage module 330, and canfurther associate that information with the dynamic informationidentifier provided on the nutritional substance. Alternatively,controller 350 or reader 340 can transmit information stored ininformation storage module 330 to information module 100 and can furtherassociate the transmitted information with the dynamic informationidentifier provided on the nutritional substance. A consumer or othermember of the nutritional substance supply system would then be able toretrieve from information module 100 the information that was stored ininformation storage module 330 by using the dynamic informationidentifier associated with the nutritional substance and provided on thenutritional substance. This storage of internal environment informationcan be used to record a history that the internal environment container310 has been subjected to. This would allow the shipper or user ofcontainer 310 to understand the internal environment the container hasbeen subjected to during the time it has preserved the nutritionalsubstance. Such information can be used to determine if the nutritionalsubstance is no longer safe for consumption or has been degraded suchthat the nutritional substance is no longer in an optimal state.Additionally, the user of the nutritional substance could modify itstransformation, conditioning, or consumption according to any changesthat may have occurred because of the internal conditions of thecontainer.

In an additional embodiment, controller 350 can modify the operation ofcontainer 310 so as modify the preservation capabilities of container310. For example, if the internal environment of container 310 wouldadversely affect the nutritional substance 320, container 310 couldadjust the internal environment of container 310 to better preserve thenutritional substance. Controller 350 can analyze the historicinformation from internal sensor 370, stored in information storagemodule 330 to determine any long-term internal environmental conditions.If nutritional substance needs to be kept within a certain temperaturerange to preserve its nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values orproperties, and the internal sensor 370 provides internal temperatureinformation to controller 350, controller 350 could modify container 310so as to maintain nutritional substance 320 within the requiredtemperature range.

In an alternate embodiment reader 340 can also write to informationstorage module 330. In this embodiment, information regarding thecontainer and/or nutritional substance 320 can be modified or added toinformation storage module 330 by the user or shipper.

FIG. 10 shows embodiment of preservation module 300 wherein container310 contains nutritional substance 320 as well as nutritional substancesensor 380 in contact with nutritional substance 320, such thatnutritional substance sensor 380 can obtain information regarding thenutritional substance 320 in container 310. Nutritional substance sensor380 can be connected to reader 340 to obtain the nutritional substance320 condition. Nutritional substance sensor 380 and reader 340 can takethe form of electronic components such as an electronic sensor andelectronic display. However, the reader-sensor combination may also bechemical or organic materials which perform the same function, such as aliquid crystal sensor/display.

In this embodiment, information regarding the condition of thenutritional substance 320 sensed by nutritional substance sensor 380 canbe retrieved by reader 340. In addition to information regarding thecondition of nutritional substance 320 in container 310, information inthe nutritional substance sensor 380 can include creation or origininformation from the creation of the nutritional substance 320 and/orprior preservation or transformation information and other historicalinformation. Information in the nutritional substance sensor 380 mightadditionally include identification information, such as a dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance, which isassociated with source and origin information or information regardingprior transformation or prior storage or prior transport of thenutritional substance 320 and other historic information preserved ininformation module 100. A shipper, or user, of container 310 canoperatively connect to nutritional substance sensor 380 using reader 340to retrieve information stored therein. Information module 100 canconnect to reader 340 to retrieve and preserve information stored orcollected by nutritional substance sensor 380, and can further associatethat information with the dynamic information identifier provided on thenutritional substance. Alternatively, nutritional substance sensor 380or reader 340 can transmit information stored in or collected bynutritional substance sensor 380 to information module 100 and canfurther associate the transmitted information with the dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance. A consumeror other member of the nutritional substance supply system would then beable to retrieve from information module 100 the information that wasstored in or collected by nutritional substance sensor 380 by using thedynamic information identifier associated with the nutritional substanceand provided on the nutritional substance. This would allow the shipperor user of container 310 to understand the condition of the nutritionalsubstance during the time it is been preserved. Such information can beused to determine if the nutritional substance is no longer safe forconsumption or has been degraded such that the nutritional substance isno longer in an optimal state. Additionally, the user of the nutritionalsubstance could modify its transformation, conditioning, or consumptionaccording to any changes that may have occurred because of the internalconditions of the container.

FIG. 11 shows embodiment of preservation module 300 wherein container310 contains nutritional substance 320 as well as controller 350.Controller 350 is connected to nutritional substance sensor 380.Controller 350 and nutritional substance sensor 380 can take the form ofelectronic components such as a micro-controller and an electronicsensor. However, the controller-sensor combination may also be chemicalor organic materials which perform the same function, such as a liquidcrystal sensor/display.

When the shipper or user of container 310 desires information fromnutritional substance sensor 380 the shipper or user can use reader 340to query nutritional substance sensor 380 through controller 350. In theelectronic component embodiment, reader 340 could be a user interfacedevice such as a computer which can be electronically connected tonutritional substance sensor 380 through controller 350.

In addition to information regarding the environment internal tocontainer 310, information in the controller 350 can include creation ororigin information from the creation of the nutritional substance 320and/or prior preservation or transformation information and otherhistorical information. Information in the controller 350 mightadditionally include identification information, such as a dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance, which isassociated with source and origin information or information regardingprior transformation or prior storage or prior transport of thenutritional substance 320 and other historic information preserved ininformation module 100. A shipper, or user, of container 310 canoperatively connect to controller 350 using reader 340 to retrieveinformation stored therein, such as the identification information andinformation from nutritional substance sensor 380. Information module100 can connect to controller 350 directly, or using reader 340, toretrieve and preserve information stored therein, such as theidentification information and information from nutritional substancesensor 380, and can further associate that information with the dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance.Alternatively, controller 350 or reader 340 can transmit informationstored in or collected by controller 350 to information module 100 andcan further associate the transmitted information with the dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance A consumeror other member of the nutritional substance supply system would then beable to retrieve from information module 100 the information that wasstored in controller 350 by using the dynamic information identifierassociated with the nutritional substance and provided on thenutritional substance.

In an additional embodiment, controller 350 can modify the operation ofcontainer 310 so as modify the preservation capabilities of container310. For example, if the interior environment of container 310 isadversely affecting the nutritional substance 320, container 310 couldadjust the nutritional substance environment of container 310 to betterpreserve the nutritional substance. If nutritional substance needs to bekept within a certain temperature range to preserve its nutritional,organoleptic or aesthetic values or properties, and the nutritionalsubstance sensor 380 provides nutritional substance temperatureinformation to controller 350, controller 350 could modify container 310so as to maintain nutritional substance 320 within the requiredtemperature range.

In FIG. 12, preservation module 300 includes container 310 whichcontains nutritional substance 320, controller 350, and informationstorage module 330. Nutritional substance sensor 380 is positioned suchthat it can provide information on the nutritional substance incontainer 310. Information from the nutritional substance sensor 380 andinformation storage module can be retrieved by connecting reader 340 tocontroller 350.

In addition to information regarding the condition of nutritionalsubstance 320 inside container 310, information in the informationstorage module 330 can include creation or origin information from thecreation of the nutritional substance 320 and/or prior preservation ortransformation information and other historic information regarding thenutritional substance 320. Information in the information storage module330 might additionally include identification information, such as adynamic information identifier provided on the nutritional substance,which is associated with source and origin information or informationregarding prior transformation or prior storage or prior transport ofthe nutritional substance 320 and other historic information preservedin information module 100. A shipper, or user, of container 310 canoperatively connect to information storage module 330 using reader 340to retrieve information stored in information storage module 330.Information module 100 can connect to controller 350 directly, or usingreader 340, to retrieve and preserve information stored in informationstorage module 330, and can further associate that information with thedynamic information identifier provided on the nutritional substance.Alternatively, controller 350 or reader 340 can transmit informationstored in information storage module 330 to information module 100 andcan further associate the transmitted information with the dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance. A consumeror other member of the nutritional substance supply system would then beable to retrieve from information module 100 the information that wasstored in information storage module 330 by using the dynamicinformation identifier associated with the nutritional substance andprovided on the nutritional substance. This would allow the shipper oruser of container 310 to understand the condition of nutritionalsubstance 320 during the time it has been preserved. Such informationcan be used to determine if the nutritional substance is no longer safefor consumption or has been degraded such that the nutritional substanceis no longer in an optimal state. Additionally, the user of thenutritional substance could modify its transformation, conditioning, orconsumption according to any changes that may have occurred duringstorage in the container.

In an additional embodiment, controller 350 can modify the operation ofcontainer 310 so as modify the preservation capabilities of container310. For example, if the nutritional substance 320 is being adverselyaffected, controller 350 could adjust the container 310 to betterpreserve the nutritional substance. Controller 350 can analyze thehistoric information from nutritional substance sensor 380 stored ininformation storage module 330 to determine any long-term nutritionalsubstance condition trends that may need modification. If thenutritional substance sensor 380 provides nutritional substanceinformation to controller 350 indicating a trend that needsmodification, controller 350 could modify container 310 such that thetrend of nutritional substance condition is more desirable.

In an alternate embodiment reader 340 can also write to informationstorage module 330. In this embodiment, information regarding thecontainer and/or nutritional substance 320 can be modified or added toinformation storage module 330 by the user or shipper.

FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of preservation module 300. Withincontainer 310 is nutritional substance 320, nutritional substance sensor380, internal sensor 370, information storage module 330, and controller350. External sensor 360 is located outside or on the surface ofcontainer 310. In operation, controller 350 receives information fromnutritional substance sensor 380, internal sensor 370, and externalsensor 360. Additionally, controller 350 can store the informationreceived from the three sensors in information storage module 330.Controller 350 can retrieve such stored information and transmit it toreader 340. Reader 340 can also transmit instructions to controller 350.

Information in the information storage module 330 includes informationregarding the condition of the nutritional substance from nutritionalsubstance sensor 380, information regarding the environment internal tocontainer 310 from internal sensor 370, and information regarding theenvironment external to container 310 from external sensor 360. Further,information in the information storage module 330 can include creationor origin information from the creation of the nutritional substance 320and/or prior preservation or transformation information and otherhistoric information regarding the nutritional substance 320.Information in the information storage module 330 might additionallyinclude identification information, such as a dynamic informationidentifier provided on the nutritional substance, which is associatedwith source and origin information or information regarding priortransformation or prior storage or prior transport of the nutritionalsubstance 320 and other historic information preserved in informationmodule 100. A shipper, or user, of container 310 can operatively connectto information storage module 330 using reader 340 to retrieveinformation stored in information storage module 330. Information module100 can connect to controller 350 directly, or using reader 340, toretrieve and preserve information stored in information storage module330, and can further associate that information with the dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance.Alternatively, controller 350 or reader 340 can transmit informationstored in information storage module 330 to information module 100 andcan further associate the transmitted information with the dynamicinformation identifier provided on the nutritional substance. A consumeror other member of the nutritional substance supply system would then beable to retrieve from information module 100 the information that wasstored in information storage module 330 by using the dynamicinformation identifier associated with the nutritional substance andprovided on the nutritional substance. This would allow the shipper oruser of container 310 to understand the condition of nutritionalsubstance 320 during the time it has been preserved, as well as theenvironment internal and external to container 310 during thepreservation period. Such information can be used to determine if thenutritional substance is no longer safe for consumption or has beendegraded such that the nutritional substance is no longer in an optimalstate. Additionally, the user of the nutritional substance could modifyits transformation, conditioning, or consumption according to anychanges that may have occurred during storage in the container.

In an additional embodiment, controller 350 can modify the operation ofcontainer 310 so as modify the preservation capabilities of container310. For example, if the nutritional substance 320 is being adverselyaffected, controller 350 could adjust the container 310 to betterpreserve the nutritional substance. Controller 350 can analyze thehistoric information stored in information storage module 330 regardingnutritional substance sensor 380, internal sensor 370, and externalsensor 360 to determine any long-term nutritional substance conditiontrends, internal environment trends, and external environment trendsthat may need modification. If the nutritional substance sensor 380 orthe internal sensor 370 or the external sensor 360 provide informationto controller 350 indicating a trend that requires modification ofcontainer 310, controller 350 could modify container 310 such that thetrend is offset or compensated for.

In an alternate embodiment reader 340 can also write to informationstorage module 330. In this embodiment, information regarding thecontainer and/or nutritional substance 320 can be modified or added toinformation storage module 330 by the user or shipper.

As an example, nutritional substance 320 could be bananas being shippedto a distribution warehouse. Bananas are in container 310 which iscapable of controlling its internal temperature, humidity, and the levelof certain gasses within the container. Creation information as to thebananas is placed in information storage module 330 prior to shipment.During shipment, external sensor 360 measures the temperature andhumidity outside container 310. This information is stored by controller350 in information storage module 330. Controller 350 also receivesinformation on the internal environment within container 310 frominternal sensor 370 and stores this information in information storagemodule 330. This information includes the internal temperature,humidity, and certain gas levels within container 310. Finally,nutritional substance sensor 380, which is attached to the surface ofthe bananas, provides information as to the state of the bananas tocontroller 350. This information could include surface temperature,surface humidity, gasses being emitted, and surface chemicals. At anytime during its shipment and delivery to the distribution warehouse,reader 340 can be used to retrieve both current information and historicinformation stored within information storage module 330. Alternatively,at any time during its shipment and delivery to the distributionwarehouse, reader 340 or controller 350 can transmit both currentinformation and historic information stored within information storagemodule 330 to information module 100 so that the information isavailable for remote retrieval from information module 100.

During shipment, container 310 modifies its internal conditionsaccording to instructions provided by controller 350. Controller 350contains instructions as to how to preserve, and possibly ripen, thebananas using information stored in information storage module 330 aboutthe creation of the bananas, as well as historical information receivedfrom the three sensors, as well as current information being receivedfrom the three sensors. In this manner, preservation module 300 canpreserve and optimize nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values orproperties or attributes of the bananas while they are being shipped andstored.

It will be understood that subsets of the embodiment described hereincan operate to achieve the goals stated herein. In one embodiment,nutritional substance sensor 380, internal sensor 370, external sensor360, information storage module 330, controller 350, reader 340, andparts of container 310 are each electrical or electromechanical deviceswhich perform each of the indicated functions. However, it is possiblefor some or all of these functions to be done using chemical and/ororganic compounds. For example, a specifically designed plastic wrap forbananas can sense the exterior conditions of the package, the interiorconditions of the package, and control gas flow through its surface soas to preserve and ripen the bananas.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense (i.e., to say, in thesense of “including, but not limited to”), as opposed to an exclusive orexhaustive sense. As used herein, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” orany variant thereof means any connection or coupling, either direct orindirect, between two or more elements. Such a coupling or connectionbetween the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, refer to this application as awhole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where thecontext permits, words in the above Detailed Description using thesingular or plural number may also include the plural or singular numberrespectively. The word “or,” in reference to a list of two or moreitems, covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any ofthe items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combinationof the items in the list.

The above Detailed Description of examples of the invention is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed above. While specific examples for the invention are describedabove for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications arepossible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in therelevant art will recognize. While processes or blocks are presented ina given order in this application, alternative implementations mayperform routines having steps performed in a different order, or employsystems having blocks in a different order. Some processes or blocks maybe deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified toprovide alternative or sub-combinations. Also, while processes or blocksare at times shown as being performed in series, these processes orblocks may instead be performed or implemented in parallel, or may beperformed at different times. Further any specific numbers noted hereinare only examples. It is understood that alternative implementations mayemploy differing values or ranges.

The various illustrations and teachings provided herein can also beapplied to systems other than the system described above. The elementsand acts of the various examples described above can be combined toprovide further implementations of the invention.

Any patents and applications and other references noted above, includingany that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporatedherein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts included insuch references to provide further implementations of the invention.

These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of theabove Detailed Description. While the above description describescertain examples of the invention, and describes the best modecontemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, theinvention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may varyconsiderably in its specific implementation, while still beingencompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above,particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the invention to the specific examplesdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe invention encompasses not only the disclosed examples, but also allequivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under theclaims.

While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certainclaim forms, the applicant contemplates the various aspects of theinvention in any number of claim forms. For example, while only oneaspect of the invention is recited as a means-plus-function claim under35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, other aspects may likewise be embodiedas a means-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as beingembodied in a computer-readable medium. Any claims intended to betreated under 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6 will begin with the words “means for.”Accordingly, the applicant reserves the right to add additional claimsafter filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms forother aspects of the invention.

Examples

Nutritional substances are commonly preserved utilizing various freezingtechniques. While freezing is well recognized as an effective method ofpreservation, it can cause a degradation of nutritional, organoleptic,or aesthetic value, a negative ΔN, for the nutritional substance beingfrozen. Additional ΔN can occur during subsequent storage and transferof the nutritional substance on its path from being packaged and frozento being consumed. These additional ΔNs can occur as a result of: frozenstorage; transfer to a distributor or retailer; and storage by thedistributor or retailer.

FIG. 14 provides a schematic showing exemplary steps that may occur to afrozen nutritional substance before it is sold to a consumer. FIG. 14further shows that the nutritional substance has a baseline nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value (N_(BASELINE)), then experiences achange in the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value (ΔN) at eachsubsequent step before being sold to a consumer.

Some examples will now be provided of how a preservation system fornutritional substances according to the present invention providesbeneficial: source and origin information for the nutritional substance;information regarding a change in nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the nutritional substance; and information as to acurrent nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic state of the nutritionalsubstance.

In one example, the raw material is freshly caught farm raised salmon.Referring to FIG. 14, when the salmon is first caught it is at itsbaseline nutritional, organoleptic, and aesthetic value, N_(BASELINE).Transformation of the salmon involves cleaning and cutting the salmoninto steaks. From the time the salmon is caught and during the time thesalmon is being cleaned and cut, it is advantageous to maintain thesalmon at low temperatures, but also to avoid uncontrolled freezing ofthe salmon. Based on the conditions and amount of time that the salmonis maintained from the time it is caught and during the time it is beingcleaned and cut, there will be changes, likely a degradation, innutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value. These changes are shownas ΔN₁ in FIG. 14. The nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic state ofthe salmon following preparation and transformation would be equal tothe sum of its baseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueand the change in said nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valuethat occurred during transformation. In other words, the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value following transformation equalsN_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁.

The cleaned and cut salmon steaks are then packaged and frozen. Based onthe type of packaging used and the freezing process applied, there willbe changes, likely a degradation, in nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value. These changes are shown as ΔN₂ in FIG. 14. Thenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic state of the salmon followingpackaging and freezing would be equal to the sum of its baselinenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value and the change in saidnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value that occurred duringtransformation and the change in said nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value that occurred during packaging and freezing. In otherwords, the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value followingpackaging and freezing equals N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂.

The packaged and frozen salmon steaks are then put into frozen storage.Based on the type of packaging used and the time and conditions offrozen storage, there will be changes, likely a degradation, innutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value. These changes are shownas ΔN₃ in FIG. 14. The nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic state ofthe salmon following frozen storage would be equal to the sum of itsbaseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value and the change insaid nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value that occurred duringtransformation and the change in said nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value that occurred during packaging and freezing and thechange in said nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value thatoccurred during frozen storage. In other words, the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value following frozen storage equalsN_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂+ΔN₃.

The packaged and frozen salmon steaks are eventually transferred to adistributor or retailer. Based on the time and conditions duringtransfer, there will be changes, likely a degradation, in nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value. These changes are shown as ΔN₄ in FIG.14. The nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic state of the salmonfollowing transfer to a distributor or retailer would be equal to thesum of its baseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value andthe change in said nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value thatoccurred during transformation and the change in said nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value that occurred during packaging andfreezing and the change in said nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue that occurred during frozen storage and the change in saidnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value that occurred duringtransfer to the distributor or retailer. In other words, thenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value following transfer todistributor equals N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂+ΔN₃+ΔN₄.

The packaged and frozen salmon steaks are then stored by the distributoror retailer, awaiting sale to a consumer. Based on the time andconditions of storage by the distributor or retailer, there will bechanges, likely a degradation, in nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value. These changes are shown as ΔN₅ in FIG. 14. Thenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic state of the salmon followingstorage by a distributor or retailer would be equal to the sum of itsbaseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value and the change insaid nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value that occurred duringtransformation and the change in said nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value that occurred during packaging and freezing and thechange in said nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value thatoccurred during frozen storage and the change in said nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value that occurred during transfer to thedistributor or retailer and the change in said nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value that occurred during storage by thedistributor or retailer. In other words, the nutritional, organoleptic,or aesthetic value following storage by a distributor or retailer andupon sale to a consumer equals N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂+ΔN₃+ΔN₄+ΔN₅.

For traditional methods of freezing, it is well understood that thequality of frozen nutritional substances is highly dependent on the rateat which it is frozen. Generally, rapid freezing results in higherquality frozen nutritional substances as compared to slow freezing. Whenfreezing is rapid, there are more locations within the nutritionalsubstance where nucleation occurs, that is, where ice crystallizationbegins. In contrast, when freezing is slow, there are relatively fewnucleation sites resulting in larger ice crystals. It is known thatthese larger ice crystals can cause mechanical damage to cell walls andcan further result in cell dehydration.

Examples of common traditional methods used for freezing nutritionalsubstances include air-blast freezers, plate freezers, and liquidnitrogen freezers. These methods of freezing nutritional substancesprovide various benefits and advantages depending on the nutritionalsubstance being frozen and upon other factors such as production rate,flexibility, equipment cost, and cost to operate. These methods offreezing nutritional substances can further be differentiated by therespective rates of freezing that they can deliver, which as previouslydiscussed, can have a significant impact on the quality of thenutritional substance.

Air-blast freezers are among the oldest and most commonly used types offreezing equipment. They offer good temperature stability andversatility for many types of products. Air is generally used as thefreezing medium and can be still air or forced air. The basic processinvolves placing nutritional substances in freezing rooms called sharpfreezers. Still air freezers are the most economical method of freezingand provide the added advantage of a constant temperature during frozenstorage. However, still air freezers are the slowest method of freezingdue to the low surface heat transfer coefficient of circulating airinside the room.

Contact freezing can be a more efficient method of freezing in terms ofheat transfer mechanism. The most common type of contact freezer is theplate freezer. In this case, the product is pressed between hallow metalplates, either horizontally or vertically, with a refrigerantcirculating inside the plates. Pressure is applied for good contact.This type of freezing system is only limited to regular-shaped materialslike patties or block-shaped packaged products, and is considerablyfaster than air-blast freezing in these situations.

Liquid nitrogen freezing, also known as flash freezing, is still morerapid than contact freezing methods such as with plate freezers. Therefrigerant is liquid Nitrogen, with a boiling temperature of −196° C.at atmospheric pressure, and is sprayed into the freezer, evaporatingupon leaving the spray nozzles and upon contact with the nutritionalsubstance. These systems can provide high heat transfer efficiency, butconsume Nitrogen in the range of 1.2-kg Nitrogen per 1-kg of nutritionalsubstance. Typical nutritional substances frozen in this type of systeminclude fish fillets.

A non-traditional freezing system that shows great promise fornutritional substances is known as a Cells Alive System, or CAS,developed by ABI. The technology does not depend on rapid rates offreezing to minimize damage caused by ice crystals, yet can deliverresults even better than rapid freezing such as liquid Nitrogenfreezing, that is with little to no degradation of nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value. CAS technology uses an oscillatingelectrical field to cause water molecules within the nutritionalsubstance to spin, stopping them from clustering and forming icecrystals that damage cell walls. Additionally, the spinning motion ofthe water molecules artificially lowers the freezing point of the waterwithin the nutritional substance to approximately −7° C. Once thenutritional substance reaches this temperature, the oscillatingelectrical field is turned off and the water freezes almostinstantaneously from the inside out, causing minimal or no cell damage.The natural life form of the cells of a CAS frozen nutritional substanceis retained, without the physical damage to the cell wall and nucleusthat results from ice crystal growth during traditionaloutside-to-inside freezing methods.

While CAS freezing has found selective application for preservingnutritional substances, the focus has been on organoleptic and aestheticcharacteristics such as taste, texture, and appearance. The presentinvention can not only track, preserve, and communicate the valuesassociated with these characteristics and changes in the valuesassociated with these characteristics, it can additionally track,preserve, and communicate the nutritional value and changes in thenutritional value of a nutritional substance. This will be of greatvalue to a consumer, who can now see the nutritional benefit associatedwith nutritional substances frozen by CAS methods. It will also be ofgreat value to those offering nutritional substances frozen by CASmethods, as tracking and communicating a degradation in nutritionalvalue close to, or equal to, zero will demonstrate that the nutritionalsubstance offers similar or equal nutritional value as compared tofreshly caught, freshly slaughtered, or freshly harvested nutritionalsubstances.

Referring to FIG. 14, ΔN₂ represents a change in nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance, in thiscase a change resulting from packaging and freezing of the salmonsteaks. Improvement of a nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valuewould be represented by a positive value for ΔN₂. Maintenance of anutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value would be represented by azero value for ΔN₂. Degradation of a nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value would be represented by a negative value for ΔN₂. It isunderstood that while all methods of freezing nutritional substances areintended to minimize degradation of nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value, traditional outside-to-inside freezing methods such asair-blast freezing, contact freezing, and flash freezing are associatedwith various degrees of cell disruption and accordingly various degreesof nutritional substance ΔN or degradation, while CAS freezing methodscan offer little to no cell disruption and accordingly little to nonutritional substance ΔN or degradation.

For the purpose of the following example it is understood that theamount of degradation to be expected from air-blast freezing is greaterthan the amount of degradation to be expected from contact freezingwhich is greater than the amount of degradation to be expected fromliquid Nitrogen freezing which is greater than the amount of degradationto be expected from CAS freezing. Because degradation is represented bya negative number, the relationship can be described as: ΔN₂ air-blastfreezing <ΔN₂ contact freezing <ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogen freezing <ΔN₂ CASfreezing ≦0. With this context, an example is offered of a preservationsystem according to the present invention. In this example, atransformer of the salmon steaks provides four varieties of frozensalmon steaks based upon nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valuesof the product. The products are marketed as: economy; standard;premium; and ultra-premium.

The economy salmon steaks have been packaged and frozen by air-blastfreezing, which is known to cause significant degradation, but iseconomical for the transformer. The standard salmon steaks have beenpackaged and frozen by contact freezing, such as in a plate freezer,which is known to cause degradation, but less than air-blast freezing.The premium salmon steaks have been packaged and frozen by liquidNitrogen freezing, also known as flash freezing, which is known to causeless degradation than contact freezing. The ultra-premium salmon steakshave been packaged and frozen by CAS freezing, which is known to causelittle to no degradation, which is less than liquid Nitrogen freezing.

The transformer stores its economy and standard products at −18° C., andstores its premium and ultra-premium products at −35° C. It is knownthat degradation of nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value duringfrozen storage will be greater at storage temperatures of −18° C.compared to degradation of nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueduring frozen storage at −35° C. Because degradation is represented by anegative number, the relationship can be described as: ΔN₃ frozenstorage at −18° C.<ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35° C.

Further, the transformer transfers its economy and standard products todistributors and retailers at −18° C., and transfers its premium andultra-premium products to distributors and retailers at −35° C. Becausedegradation is represented by a negative number, the relationship can bedescribed as: ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.<ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C.

Still further, the transformer requires its distributors or retailers tostore the economy, standard, and premium products at −18° C., butrequires its distributors or retailers to store the ultra-premiumproduct at −35° C. Because degradation is represented by a negativenumber, the relationship can be described as: ΔN₅ storage at −18° C.<ΔN₄storage at −35° C.

The nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of any of these foursalmon steak products from the transformer can be expressed as the sumof its baseline nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value after eachstep it goes through on its journey through the nutritional substancesupply system. After transformation, the nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the economy salmon steak=the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the standard salmon steak=thenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the premium salmonsteak=the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of theultra-premium salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁.

After packaging and freezing, the nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the economy salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂air-blast freezing. After packaging and freezing, the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the standard salmonsteak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing. After packaging andfreezing, the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of thepremium salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogen freezing.After packaging and freezing, the nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic value of the ultra-premium salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂CAS freezing. The relationship between the nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values of the economy, standard, premium, and ultra-premiumsalmon steaks is: N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ air-blast freezing<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing <N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquidNitrogen freezing <N_(BASELINE)ΔN₁+ΔN₂ CAS freezing, respectively.

After frozen storage, the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueof the economy salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ air-blast freezing+ΔN₃frozen storage at −18° C. After frozen storage, the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the standard salmonsteak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18°C. After frozen storage, the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the premium salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogenfreezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35° C. After frozen storage, thenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the ultra-premiumsalmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ CAS freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at−35° C. The relationship between the nutritional, organoleptic, oraesthetic values of the economy, standard, premium, and ultra-premiumsalmon steaks is: N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ air-blast freezing+ΔN₃ frozenstorage at −18° C.<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing+ΔN₃ frozenstorage at −18° C.<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogen freezing+ΔN₃frozen storage at −35° C.<N_(BASELINE)ΔN₁+ΔN₂ CAS freezing+ΔN₃ frozenstorage at −35° C., respectively.

After transfer to a distributor or retailer, the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the economy salmonsteak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ air-blast freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C. After transfer to a distributor or retailer,the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the standard salmonsteak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C. After transfer to a distributor or retailer,the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the premium salmonsteak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogen freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storageat −35° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C. After transfer to a distributor orretailer, the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of theultra-premium salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ CAS freezing+ΔN₃ frozenstorage at −35° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C. The relationship between thenutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values of the economy, standard,premium, and ultra-premium salmon steaks is: N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂air-blast freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18°C.<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogenfreezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35°C.<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ CAS freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35° C.+ΔN₄transfer at −35° C., respectively.

At sale to a consumer, the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueof the economy salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ air-blast freezing+ΔN₃frozen storage at −18° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C.At sale to a consumer, the nutritional, freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at−18° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C. At sale to aconsumer, the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of thepremium salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogen freezing+ΔN₃frozen storage at −35° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C.At sale to a consumer, the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic valueof the ultra-premium salmon steak=N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ CAS freezing+ΔN₃frozen storage at −35° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −35° C.The relationship between the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalues of the economy, standard, premium, and ultra-premium salmonsteaks is: N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ air-blast freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at−18° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18°C.<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C.<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂liquid Nitrogen freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at−35° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C.<N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ CAS freezing+ΔN₃frozen storage at −35° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −35°C., respectively.

The consumer, or any other constituent in the nutritional substancesupply system, can utilize reference information provided on thenutritional substance package by the transformer in the form of adynamic information identifier. The dynamic information identifierallows retrieval of source and origin information as well as informationregarding changes in nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values ofthe nutritional substance from a nutritional substance informationsystem, such as from a dynamic nutritional value database.

An example of how this benefits a distributor or retailer of the premiumsalmon steaks, as compared to products provided without a dynamicinformation identifier will now be discussed. Upon receiving the premiumsalmon steaks from transfer, the distributor or retailer can verifysource and origin information regarding the premium salmon steaks usingthe dynamic information identifier provided with the nutritionalsubstance to retrieve the source and origin information from anutritional substance information system. Further, the distributor orretailer can verify that the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalues expected of this type of product have actually been maintainedusing the dynamic information identifier provided with the nutritionalsubstance to retrieve information regarding actual ΔN associated withthe premium salmon steaks from a nutritional substance informationsystem. In this way, the distributor or retailer has access toinformation regarding ΔN and a current state of nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the premium salmon steaks. Thenutritional substance information system can communicate the ΔN attransfer to distributor, which would equal ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogenfreezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C. Thenutritional substance information system can further communicate acurrent nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the premiumsalmon steaks at transfer to distributor, which would equalN_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogen freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C. If the product had been received without adynamic information identifier, the distributor or retailer would haveaccess to very limited information regarding the product, and noinformation regarding ΔN or the current state of nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the product.

An example of how this benefits a consumer shopping for premium orultra-premium salmon steaks provided with a dynamic informationidentifier, as compared to products provided without a dynamicinformation identifier, will now be discussed. At the supermarket theconsumer can verify source and origin information regarding the premiumsalmon steaks using the dynamic information identifier provided with thenutritional substance to retrieve the source and origin information froma nutritional substance information system. Preferably, this isaccomplished with the consumer's smart phone. Further, the consumer canverify that the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values expectedof this type of product have actually been maintained using the dynamicinformation identifier provided with the nutritional substance toretrieve information regarding actual ΔN associated with the premiumsalmon steaks from a nutritional substance information system. In thisway, the consumer has access to information regarding ΔN and a currentstate of nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the premiumsalmon steaks. The nutritional substance information system cancommunicate the current ΔN at the time of the consumer's query, whichwould equal ΔN₁+ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogen freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C. The nutritionalsubstance information system can further communicate a currentnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the premium salmonsteaks at the time of the consumer's query, which would equalN_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁ΔN₂ liquid Nitrogen freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C. Now the consumer canverify source and origin information regarding the ultra-premium salmonsteaks using the dynamic information identifier provided with thenutritional substance to retrieve the source and origin information froma nutritional substance information system. Preferably, this isaccomplished with the consumer's smart phone. Further, the consumer canverify that the nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic values expectedof this type of product have actually been maintained using the dynamicinformation identifier provided with the nutritional substance toretrieve information regarding actual ΔN associated with theultra-premium salmon steaks from a nutritional substance informationsystem. In this way, the consumer has access to information regarding ΔNand a current state of nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value ofthe ultra-premium salmon steaks. The nutritional substance informationsystem can communicate the current ΔN at the time of the consumer'squery, which would equal ΔN₁+ΔN₂ CAS freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −35° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −35° C. The nutritionalsubstance information system can further communicate a currentnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the ultra-premiumsalmon steaks at the time of the consumer's query, which would equalN_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁ΔN₂ CAS freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −35° C.+ΔN₄transfer at −35° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −35° C. If the product had beenoffered for sale without a dynamic information identifier, the consumerwould have access to very limited information regarding the product, andno information regarding ΔN or the current state of nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the product. Because these productswere provided with dynamic information identifiers, the consumer can nowmake an informed comparison of the two products and an informedpurchasing decision.

An example of how this benefits a value oriented consumer shopping foreconomy or standard salmon steaks, as compared to products providedwithout a dynamic information identifier, will now be discussed. At thesupermarket the consumer can verify source and origin informationregarding the economy salmon steaks using the dynamic informationidentifier provided with the nutritional substance to retrieve thesource and origin information from a nutritional substance informationsystem. Preferably, this is accomplished with the consumer's smartphone. Further, the consumer can verify that the nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic values expected of this type of product haveactually been maintained using the dynamic information identifierprovided with the nutritional substance to retrieve informationregarding actual ΔN associated with the economy salmon steaks from anutritional substance information system. In this way, the consumer hasaccess to information regarding ΔN and a current state of nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the economy salmon steaks. Thenutritional substance information system can communicate the current ΔNat the time of the consumer's query, which would equal ΔN₁+ΔN₂ air-blastfreezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.+ΔN₅storage at −18° C. The nutritional substance information system canfurther communicate a current nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalue of the economy salmon steaks at the time of the consumer's query,which would equal N_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁ΔN₂ air-blast freezing+ΔN₃ frozenstorage at −18° C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C. Nowthe consumer can verify source and origin information regarding thestandard salmon steaks using the dynamic information identifier providedwith the nutritional substance to retrieve the source and origininformation from a nutritional substance information system. Preferably,this is accomplished with the consumer's smart phone. Further, theconsumer can verify that the nutritional, organoleptic, or aestheticvalues expected of this type of product have actually been maintainedusing the dynamic information identifier provided with the nutritionalsubstance to retrieve information regarding actual ΔN associated withthe standard salmon steaks from a nutritional substance informationsystem. In this way, the consumer has access to information regarding ΔNand a current state of nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value ofthe standard salmon steaks. The nutritional substance information systemcan communicate the current ΔN at the time of the consumer's query,which would equal ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18°C.+ΔN₄ transfer at −18° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C. The nutritionalsubstance information system can further communicate a currentnutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the standard salmonsteaks at the time of the consumer's query, which would equalN_(BASELINE)+ΔN₁+ΔN₂ contact freezing+ΔN₃ frozen storage at −18° C.+ΔN₄transfer at −18° C.+ΔN₅ storage at −18° C. If the product had beenoffered for sale without a dynamic information identifier, the consumerwould have access to very limited information regarding the product, andno information regarding ΔN or the current state of nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the product. Because these productswere provided with dynamic information identifiers, the consumer can nowmake an informed comparison of the two products and an informedpurchasing decision.

1. A method of determining nutritional or organoleptic values ofnutritional substances comprising the steps of: retrieving a valuerelated to a ΔN resulting from packaging and freezing of a nutritionalsubstance; retrieving at least one of a value related to a ΔN resultingfrom transformation, frozen storage, transfer to a distributor orretailer, and storage by a distributor or retailer; retrieving a valuerelated to a baseline nutritional or organoleptic value of thenutritional substance; and: associating the retrieved values withencoding specific to the nutritional substance.
 2. A method ofdetermining nutritional or organoleptic values of nutritional substancesaccording to claim 1 further comprising the step of: determining a sumof the retrieved values.
 3. A method of determining nutritional ororganoleptic values of nutritional substances according to claim 2further comprising the step of: transmitting the sum of the retrievedvalues to a consumer.
 4. A method of determining nutritional ororganoleptic values of nutritional substances according to claim 1wherein: said packaging and freezing comprises CAS freezing.
 5. Apreservation system for nutritional substances comprising: a containerfor preserving a nutritional substance wherein the container has aninternal environment and an external environment; a transmitter fortransmitting information regarding encoding associated with thenutritional substance and measurements of at least one of the internalenvironment, the external environment, or the nutritional substance; andan information module for receiving and preserving the information.
 6. Apreservation system for nutritional substances according to claim 5wherein: the internal environment of the container is modifiedresponsive to a measurement of at least one of the internal environment,the external environment, or the nutritional substance.
 7. Apreservation system for nutritional substances according to claim 6wherein: a thermal property of the internal environment of the containeris modified.
 8. A preservation system for nutritional substancesaccording to claim 9 wherein: the internal environment is modified so asto minimize degradation, maintain, or enhance a nutritional,organoleptic, or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance.
 9. Apreservation system for nutritional substances comprising: an adaptivepreserver for adaptively preserving a nutritional substance; and asensor for sensing an internal attribute of the adaptive preserver; andattribute storage for storing the internal attribute; wherein theadaptive preserver adaptively preserves said nutritional substance inresponse to the internal attribute of the nutritional substance.
 10. Apreservation system for nutritional substances comprising: an adaptivepreserver for adaptively preserving a nutritional substance; and asensor for sensing an external attribute of the adaptive preserver;wherein the adaptive preserver adaptively preserves said nutritionalsubstance in response to the external attribute of the adaptivepreserver.
 11. A preservation system for nutritional substancesaccording to claim 10, wherein said adaptive preserver comprises acontainer which adapts its chemical properties.
 12. A preservationsystem for nutritional substances according to claim 10, wherein saidadaptive preserver comprises a container which adapts its biologicalproperties.
 13. A preservation system for nutritional substancesaccording to claim 10, wherein said adaptive preserver comprises acontainer which adapts any combination of its chemical, biological,electrical and mechanical properties.
 14. A preservation system fornutritional substances according to claim 10, wherein said sensorcomprises a biological sensor.
 15. A preservation system for nutritionalsubstances according to claim 10, wherein said sensor comprises anycombination of chemical, biological, electrical, and mechanical sensors.16. A preservation system for nutritional substances according to claim10, wherein said attribute storage comprises a computer and a database.17. A nutritional substance tracking system for tracking nutritional,organoleptic or aesthetic values of a nutritional substance, comprising:an adaptive preserver for adaptively preserving a nutritional substance;and a sensor for sensing at least one of a nutritional, organoleptic andaesthetic values of the nutritional substance; and attribute storage forstoring said at least one of a nutritional, organoleptic and aestheticvalues of the nutritional substance; wherein the adaptive preserveradaptively preserves said nutritional substance in response to said atleast one of a nutritional, organoleptic and aesthetic values of thenutritional substance so as to maintain, or minimize degradation of saidat least one of a nutritional, organoleptic and aesthetic values of thenutritional substance.
 18. A nutritional substance tracking system fortracking nutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values of a nutritionalsubstance according to claim 17, wherein said adaptive preservercomprises a container which adapts its chemical properties in responseto said at least one of a nutritional, organoleptic and aestheticvalues.
 19. A nutritional substance tracking system for trackingnutritional, organoleptic or aesthetic values of a nutritional substanceaccording to claim 17, wherein said adaptive preserver comprises acontainer which adapts its electrical properties in response to said atleast one of a nutritional, organoleptic and aesthetic values.
 20. Anutritional substance tracking system for tracking nutritional,organoleptic or aesthetic values of a nutritional substance according toclaim 17, wherein said sensor comprises any combination of chemical,biological, electrical, and mechanical sensors.
 21. A method ofdynamically ascertaining an expiration date for a nutritional substancecomprising the steps of: measuring a condition associated with anutritional substance; and comparing said measured condition to knownconditions associated with similar nutritional substances to determineif said nutritional substance has passed its expiration date.
 22. Themethod of dynamically ascertaining an expiration date for a nutritionalsubstance according to claim 21 wherein the measured condition is anattribute of the nutritional substance.
 23. The method of dynamicallyascertaining an expiration date for a nutritional substance according toclaim 21 wherein the measured condition is an attribute of thenutritional substance's environment.
 24. The method of dynamicallyascertaining an expiration date for a nutritional substance according toclaim 21 wherein the measured condition is an attribute of thenutritional substance's packaging.
 25. The method of dynamicallyascertaining an expiration date for a nutritional substance according toclaim 21 wherein the known conditions associated with similarnutritional substances are based on experimentation.
 26. The method ofdynamically ascertaining an expiration date for a nutritional substanceaccording to claim 21 wherein the known conditions associated withsimilar nutritional substances are based on algorithm.
 27. Acommunication system for nutritional substances comprising: a containerinterfacing with a nutritional substance; and a state sensor for sensingan attribute of the nutritional substance interfacing with thecontainer; and an interface associated with the container for providinginformation about the state of the nutritional substance, wherein thereis provided information flow between the container and the nutritionalsubstance.
 28. A communication system for nutritional substancesaccording to claim 27 wherein the information flow relates to anutritional or organoleptic state of the nutritional substance.
 29. Acommunication system for nutritional substances according to claim 27wherein said information related to a state of the nutritional substanceis associated with sensory values including any of audio, visual,tactile, olfactory, and other organoleptic values.
 30. A communicationsystem for nutritional substances according to claim 27 wherein saidinformation provides a warning for indicating at least one of healthwarning, allergy warning, toxicity warning, pesticide warning,identification of product spoilage, and identification of producttampering.
 31. A communication system for nutritional substancesaccording to claim 27 wherein said information related to a state of thenutritional substance is associated with at least one sensiblecharacteristic that varies with time or conditions, and said at leastone sensible characteristic relates to a chemical or biological changein the nutritional substance.
 32. A communication system for nutritionalsubstances according to claim 27 wherein said at least one sensiblecharacteristic may be associated with gasses or odors from thenutritional substance.
 33. A communication system for nutritionalsubstances comprising: a container interfacing with a nutritionalsubstance; and a sensor for sensing an attribute of the container,wherein there is provided information regarding said attribute of thecontainer; and an interface associated with the container for providinginformation related to a state of the nutritional substance.
 34. Acommunication system for nutritional substances according to claim 33wherein said information related to a state of the nutritional substanceis related to a nutritional or organoleptic state.
 35. A communicationsystem for nutritional substances according to claim 33 wherein saidinformation related to a state of the nutritional substance isassociated with sensory values including any of audio, visual, tactile,olfactory, and other organoleptic values.
 36. A communication system fornutritional substances according to claim 33 wherein said informationrelated to a state of the nutritional substance is associated with awarning regarding the nutritional substance that indicates at least oneof health warning, allergy warning, toxicity warning, pesticide warning,identification of product spoilage, and identification of producttampering.
 37. A communication system for nutritional substancescomprising: a container interfacing with a nutritional substance; and asensor for sensing an attribute of the container's environment, whereinthere is provided information regarding said attribute of thecontainer's environment; and an interface associated with the containerfor providing information related to a state of the nutritionalsubstance and wherein said information related to a state of thenutritional substance is related to a nutritional or organoleptic state.38. A communication system for nutritional substances according to claim37 wherein said information related to a state of the nutritionalsubstance is associated with sensory values including any of audio,visual, tactile, olfactory, and other organoleptic values.
 39. Acommunication system for nutritional substances according to claim 37wherein said information related to a state of the nutritional substanceis associated with a warning regarding the nutritional substance relatedto an allergy warning, toxicity warning, pesticide warning,identification of product spoilage, and identification of producttampering.
 40. A communication system for nutritional substancesaccording to claim 37 wherein said information related to a state of thenutritional substance is associated with at least one sensiblecharacteristic that varies with time or conditions.
 41. A communicationsystem for nutritional substances according to claim 40 wherein said atleast one sensible characteristic relates to a change in temperature,pressure, or humidity of the container's environment.
 42. Acommunication system for nutritional substances according to claim 40wherein said at least one sensible characteristic may be associated withgasses or odors.